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Talk:Centaur
Image I think the Chapter Heading image is better than the current one for the heading image of this article. It's too dark. Hufflepuff Half-Giant 09:55, 12 September 2007 (UTC) Male/female centaurs JK Rowling confirmed in an interview that there are no female centaurs in the HP-verse. Storyseeker1 (talk) 18:40, November 26, 2012 (UTC) :I vaguely recall reading that, but could you provide a source, please? -- 1337star (Drop me a line!) 19:26, November 26, 2012 (UTC) ::Oh, I know where you're getting this from now. The W.O.M.B.A.T. has this as a possible answer for one of its questions, however, it's also an incorrect answer. The question asks which of its possible answers is true, with two of the options being that hags eat children and that there are no female centaurs. As the former is true (see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them's introduction), the latter is not. Therefore, there are indeed female centaurs. -- 1337star (Drop me a line!) 19:57, November 28, 2012 (UTC) :::So why has there never been an appearance of them in the books/film? Plus, JK said she wrote all the mythical beasts in her books as close as to how they're described in the original myths. Look up Centaurs in Greek myths and you'll see there's no mention of any females. 14:49, November 29, 2012 (UTC) ::::Just because they're absent from the series doesn't mean that they don't exist. Regardless of what she may have based them on, we can't simply draw the assumption. ProfessorTofty (talk) 15:14, November 29, 2012 (UTC) :::::They're not just absent from the HP series, they're absent from the entire myth itself. In fact, from what I've been able to find, as well as the actual Greek myths themselves, there's no mention of female centaurs anywhere except for the Narnia films (but Lewis never wrote about them in his books either). Centaurs were described in myth as being wild and lustful creatures, often carrying off and raping human women, including the Lapith wedding and inciting war (centauromachy). (One note about this, is if there were centaur females then why were the males forever carrying off humans?) 14:41, November 30, 2012 (UTC) ::::::I believe you, but we still prefer not to make assumptions that can't be supported by the text of the Harry Potter books themselves. Particularly when we actually have information that contradicts, as mentioned above. ProfessorTofty (talk) 14:54, November 30, 2012 (UTC) :::::::This would make an interesting Behind the Scenes note if both the WOMBAT test and original myths were mentioned. --xensyriaT 18:34, November 30, 2012 (UTC) (Resetting indent.) Actually, the thing about their being no female centaurs in mythology isn't true either. See, for instance, , a centauride written about by the Roman poet Ovid. Centaurs were only a male-only race in the earliest of Greek myths. But, again, this has absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter, in which it's already been conclusively proven that female centaurs exist. -- 1337star (Drop me a line!) 18:56, November 30, 2012 (UTC) :Actually, it is true. Female Centaurs were only mentioned in later centuries. They were never mentioned in early Greek literature and art (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centaur#Female_centaurs). And you do know that Romans weren't Greek (so they don't count because they altered the myths to their style)? And where has it been conslusively proven that female centaurs exist in HP? Because they have never even been mentioned in the books or films? There have only ever been males. 16:50, December 1, 2012 (UTC) ::Whatever. As I've continually reiterated, we aren't discussing mythology, we're discussing Harry Potter. The only point I was trying to make is that the concept of female centaurs was done centuries before Rowling, to refute the idea that a "Behind the scenes" note would be needed. And I've already said where the conclusive proof is, see my second post in this section. Not to be rude, but I would advise you to let this matter drop. This is certainly the last reply I'm going to give to this matter unless some sort of new evidence that's actually relevant to the Harry Potter universe arises. -- 1337star (Drop me a line!) 18:30, December 1, 2012 (UTC) :::From your second note "Therefore, there are indeed female centaurs", when the article doesn't mention them; clearly an omission. The fact that none are seen in the films makes it noteworthy that they do, in fact, exist. Unless there's a compelling reason why they should not be included in the article this deserves a mention (and the historical and linguistic origins of centaurs being uniquely male, in the same way that nymphs are uniquely female for example, would make the mythology relevant to a behind the scenes note). I also propose we add a footnote to the sentience section of the infobox, as a casual reader may not understand the "near-human intelligence" reference. --xensyriaT 19:01, December 1, 2012 (UTC)